The story of the reluctant prophet commissioned by God to preach repentance to Nineveh, the capital of the brutal Assyrian Empire. Swallowed by a whale after his first refusal, Jonah eventually obeys and has a dramatic response from the inhabitants of the wicked city and the painful exposing of his own prejudice.

I will review the historicity of the story, when and why it was written and explore the world of the author. I’ll then suggest a possible meaning of the whale motif and finish with Jonah in the New Testament and where the story fits into the broader Biblical narrative.

• The Historicity of the Jonah Story
• When was Jonah Written?
• Why was Jonah Written?
• What About the Whale?
• Jonah in the New Testament
• The Historical Jonah
• Jonah & Biblical Interpretation
• Where Jonah fits in the Bible
• Refreshments
• Q&A